Freezing can



A. L BENTLEY.

FREEZING CAN.

APPLICATION FILED D502?, |920.

Patemfd Sam. 5, 1922.,

Patented Sept. 5, i922@ v.

Anson' a. BENTLEY, or ni, omo.

FBEEZING C application alec December e7, ieee. seriaino. eeaies.

To all lwit/0m t may concern: n

Be it known thatI l, ANsoN J. BENTLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident 'of the. city of Niles, county of Trumbull, and State of hio, have invented an llmprovement in Freezing Cans, of which the following is a specification.

rlhe present invention relates to improvements in freezing cans used in the manufacture of ice and particularly to an improved construction of can wherein means are provided to force air into the can at or near the bottom to agitate 'the water which is'to be frozen; this being .the commonly accepted practice in what is known as the raw water can system ofice making.

lin this system it is customary to use freezing cans immersed in an appropriate freezinsolution, such as brine, which is circu ated around the cans. ln order that the impurities commonly present in water available for the manufacture of ice may not be frozen into the finished cakes, some means are provided for introducing air into the can at or near the bottom. The action of this air current upon the water is such that the impurities are not frozen into the ice, but are collected in the small amount of water which remains unfrozen in a pocket in the ice cake at the termination o f the freezing period.

ln order to introduce this air it has been customary` heretofore to provide some sort of a tube or pipe running from the top edge of the can downwardly to a point at or near the vbottom and there opening into the interior of the can. The pipe or tube is so arranged that its upper end may be connected with a source of compressed air. When in use air is forced through the tube and bubbles up through the water, agitating it with the result above described.

The construction of freezing cans heretofore used has been such that the air tube is subject to injury during the handling of the cans. If the tube is located on the outside of the can it is apt to bejammed or torn loose or otherwise injured when the cans are removed from the brine solution and the ice dumped out of the can, which operation usually involves lifting one or morecans by a traveling crane, transporting them for some distance, immersing them in warm water to loosen the iceand finally placing the cans upona dumping apparatus by which they are inverted and the ice cake removed. The i liability to injury of any exposed part of the can will be apparent when it is borne in mind that each can contains three hundred or more pounds of water or ice as the case may be. lf the air tube is located-inside of the canit is very apt to be injured during the freezing of the water or to be torn loose when the .ice cake 'is dumped out of the can. v

.lit is an object of the present invention to so construct a freezing can that a conduit for the introduction of air, inaccordance with the raw water'sy'stem, `may be provided without the use of the usual tube or pipe, thus providing a distinctly superior construction and at the same time eecting substantial economy in manufacture.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been selected for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, together with certain modifications thereof. In the drawings,

Figure l is a perspective view of a freezing can embodying a preferred form of the invention,

Figure 2 is a similar view of the inside of the can shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail top plan View of a cornerof the can shown in Figure 1, and l Figures 4, 5, and 6 are enlarged detail perspective views ofthe corners of freezing cans showing modifications of the structure illustrated in Figures l and 2.

The general construction of the freezing can shown herein may be that of Letters 'Patent No. 1,027,802, dated May 28, 1912,

in so far as the formation of the side walls and the bottom and the joining of the several parts are concerned.

The can shown comprises two pieces of .galvanized sheet metal, one of which forms the side wall l and the end wall 2, while the other forms the side wall 3 and the end wall 4. A thirdpiece of sheet metal is suitably cut to form the bottom 5 of the can. kThe `side walls may be formed, if desired, with grooves 6, in order to stiHen them.

n order to form the air conduit in such a manner that the amount of sheet metal Aused will not be increased to any appreciable extent, the air -conduit is preferably located adjacent one of the seams of the can where two sheets of metal overlap. Referv ring particularly to the form shown in Figures l and 2, it will be noticed that the seams come at diagonally opposite corners of the can and that there is a substantial overlapping of the metal of the side 2 and of the side 3. In this form a groove 7 is formed near the edge of thepsheet forming side 3, this groove extending along the edge from a point at or near the top to a point near the bottom of the can. When the two sheets of metal which have been suitably cut and bent to form the side and end walls of the can, are brought together for riveting in the usual manner, the overlying edge of sheet 2 will, in cooperation with the grooved edge of sheet 3, form a conduit which may be ,utilized later for the introduction of air to the bottom of the can. The groove 7 may extend substantially the entire length of the side 3, and an opening 8 is formed at the lower end preferably by cutting away part of the metal of the groove to permit the escape of the air. lf desired, a hole may be formed toward the lower end of the conduit and other holes may be made along the conduit. If two air conduits are wanted, it is only necessary to groove the edges of both sheets.

When the sides have4 been brought together and riveted the bottom piece may be assembled. with the rest of the can and suitably riveted in place.' A reinforcing band 9 may be placed around the top of the can and riveted in place. It is customary to render the seams-of the can iuid tight by soldering and the soldering of the corner seams in the usual manner will make the conduit fluid tight as well.

It will be observed that the construction just described provides a very durable means of introducing air into the can. The walls of the air conduit. are of the same strength as the walls of thev can itself and when rivets are placed at each side of the conduit there is little or no danger of the conduit becom-A ing ammed so as to interfere with the passage of air therethrough. Moreover, there is no tube or pipe exposed on the outside or on the inside of the can.

An appropriate fitting, designed to cooperate with the particular system in which the can is to `be used may be suitably atached at the upper opening of the air conuit.

In Figure 4, the air conduit is formed by extending the side 3 of the can diagonally across the corner and riveting it to the side 2 at lboth sides of the corner. This forms a triangular conduit extending from a point ator near the top to a point at or near the bottom of the can and a suitable opening for the escape of air may be formed as in the case of the construction shown in Figures l and 2.

The form shown in Figure 5 is a slight The air conduit shown in Figure 6 is formed by folding back upon itself the metal of the edge of the side 3 and then riveting through three thicknesses of metal.

It is to be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention: i

1. A sheet metal-container having a conduit extending along one wall downwardly from the top thereof, the said conduit being formed by integral overlapped edge portions of the wall material partially spaced between lines of jointure.

2. A freezing can, for use in the manufacture of ice, having an air conduit completely formed by integral overlapped edge portions of the wall material.

3. A freezing can, for use in the manufacture of ice, having anair conduit extending downwardly from the top thereof and formed by and between integral overlapped edge portions of wall material and means for ,fastening said wall material' on both sides of said conduit.

4. A freezing can for use in the manufacture of ice, having an air conduit eXtending downwardly toward the bottom of the can and formed by an integral extension of a wall member beyond a seam the said ex tension being partially spaced from the adjacent wall material and having its extreme edge securely fastened thereto.

5. A freezing can for use in the manufacture of ice, having an air conduit'formed by overlapped edge portions of wall material partially spaced from each other along a vertical line between adjacent rows of rivets.

6. A freezing can for use in the manufacture of ice, comprising wallmembers and a bottom member, and having one of the wall members grooved inwardly where it overlaps the other wall member and united thereto on each side of the groove thereby forming an integral air conduit.

7 A freezing can for use in the manufacture of ice, comprising wall members and a bottom member, and having one of the wall members partially offset from the other wall member where the two overlap thereby forming an' air passage extending downwardly from the top of the can, and means Eniting said wall members and bottom mem- 8. A freezing can for use in the manufacture of ice, having an air condutextending from the upper edge of the can to a point adjacent the bottom thereof, the said conduit being formed by the cooperation of a portion of wallmaterial of the can and a longitudinally deformed part of adjacent wall material;

9. A freezing can for use in the manufacture of ice comprising two wall sections riveted together to form a longitudinal seam and having an air conduit provided by longitudinally deforming one of said walls between rows of rivets along said seam.

10. In an ice can, sheet metal forming the walls of the can, the ends of said sheet metal overlapping and lying in superimposed relationship, one of said overlapping ends being bent to provide a portion offset from the other end and cooperating with the other end to form a vertical air passage lin the wals of the can between said overlapping en s.

l1. ln an ice can, sheet metal forming the walls of the can, the ends of said sheet metal overlapping and lying in superimposed relationship, one of said overlapping ends being' bent to provide a portion offset from the other end and cooperating with the other end to form a vertical air passage in the walls of the can between said overlapping ends, said offset portion having an opening therein in its lower end providing communication between the air passage and the inside of the can.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 17th day of 35 December, 1920.

ANSON J. BETLEY. 

